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Google announces to down rank poor performance apps on Play store. What you should do?

Google has come up with another important update on ranking algorithm of apps on Play Store. Well, there are many questions regarding this update, such as – how it affects the user experience? Will it have any impact on developers? What developers should do? And so on.

Lets learn some more about this latest update and what should developers do to push their apps to high position on Play Store.

Google is going to down rank poorly performing apps on Play Store

Google has made some significant changes to the play store, ranking down apps that do not perform well. Since the launch of Play Store, Google has been taking many steps to ramp up the quality of mobile apps. Despite of the efforts, there are many apps with consistently low ratings.

Earlier, Google employed multiple parameters to gauge the effectiveness of apps on Play Store. Now, Google is more serious about ranking apps. As a part of this process, it will simply push down the apps towards bottom that don’t meet its parameters.

According to Google – apps will be monitored on the basis of a few parameters such as – number of uninstalls, user ratings, app crashes etc. Google is also going to incorporate quality signals in their ranking algorithms, as the apps that come with host of problems make user unhappy.

How it affects user experience?

Google will push or boost only quality apps to the front, which means users will see only the apps with fewer crashes and lags at the front. This will help Google maintain and improve the quality of user experience over a period of time.

When users experience issues such as – app crashes, poor performance, more ads etc, it impacts the Android experience negatively. Google is offering only the best apps through Play Store to keep users away from negative experiences.

The main aim of this new algorithm is to promote the best apps, which results in increased app usage and engagement. Apps that won’t perform well often frustrate the user, compelling him/her to leave negative complaint. The number of bad reviews and low star ratings can impact the app’s place in charts and search results.

However — if the app is popular, large number of installs can override negative reviews to some extent and push back the app to high position that it deserves.

What you should do?

There is a general perception that iOS apps perform better than those on Android. To counter this, Google is using Artificial Intelligence to persuade developers to enable apps with great functioning. However, it is still unclear if Google will notify developers about downfall of their apps in its ranking.

Based on the above update, we can say there is a great connection between app quality and usage. This ultimately impacts the developer’s ability to retain users and generate revenue from the app. A good developer is anyway concerned about crashes, bugs and performance issues. However, this update will institutionalize certain values across the Play Store — motivating developers to develop better quality apps (If they want their apps to found on top).

Developers are always wondering how their app can be on top of search results. Google takes into account deep statistics such as installs and uninstalls. The more installs you app have, the higher is the rank.

As the new algorithm takes effect — apps with poor performance will be ranked lower in search results. If you want your app to be promoted well in Play Store and get all the important downloads, you should make your app ‘The Best’ in terms of quality and ensure it performs seamlessly.

Here are some tips that help developers build a best quality app.

a.) Developers should focus more on access by considering how the app can fit into users’ routines. Make sure that the app is benefiting the user, providing a clear and consistent value.

b.) Make sure to check the app using latest security tools available from Android platform to secure user’s data. Performance must be a priority than ever before – as it will have a dramatic impact on usage and customer engagement levels.

c.) Before releasing the app into market, make sure that it is tested thoroughly. Be sure to leverage the alpha and beta channels of Google Play, before release. Developers should have the ability to roll-back or fix the issue, before it hits users.

d.) Make sure to learn about the navigation paradigms, visual language and other things. Remember that Android its own way to display information, laying out screens, navigation etc. Dev elopers should work well with designers and educate them, wherever required.

Besides this, developers should use helpful anchor text that links to an app. Developers must write something interesting in the links, so that users get attracted to the app. Make the android application package smaller, as they get installed more.

Google encourages developers to make apps that crash less. As Google will now focus more on user engagement, performance data and user ratings — developers should focus more on creating quality apps.

Conclusion

Play Store has millions of apps available for download, which means there are large group of apps that are not easily discoverable through featured selections. If your app isn’t performing well, it could become invisible than before.

Google algorithms are not always mysterious, and it is easy to know what to do when the app down ranks. Developers can use Play Console to find the issues with their apps and fix them. Moreover, developers should update their apps more frequently — if they want their apps to perform seamlessly.

You should treat this as the first of many steps towards a nicer play store. Your app will find more success on Play Store, if you focus more on quality and performance.

If you have an outstanding idea of mobile application development, contact us today. We have a team of highly qualified and experienced professionals who can help you in building the best mobile app.

Gayatri is a content writer specializing in web pages and SEO content. She writes SEO articles for companies that want to enhance their visibility on search engine result pages. She contributes articles related to mobile apps, SEO, technology and related niches. She is a techno-savvy person and is passionate in writing how-to-guides, gadget reviews, blogs, eBooks and cutting edge articles about current technology trends. Her work involves rewriting, proofreading, editing and updating content. She experimented with various occupations – programming, training, web designing…..But her favorite job is the one she is doing now.

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